Mediterranean cities in transition: knowing Venetian Candia between the lines of current Heraklion

The Cretan town of Heraklion was the capital of the Venetian Regno di Candia (1204-1669) with the name of Candia. During the last two Venetian centuries, even more after the loss of Cyprus (1573), the island of Crete became the most advanced defensive element against the Ottomans and the Serenissima carried out a significant urban and territorial renovation, promoting the construction of public works and infrastructures: aqueducts, fountains, hospitals, and public buildings, as well as arsenals, barracks, and new urban walls. In the town of Candia, a Loggia was built in front of the ducal palace, near the church of St. Mark and the cathedral of St. Titus, and a more complex process involved the construction of new “alla moderna” fortifications: the original project is attributed to Michele Sanmicheli, but it was completed during the 17th century under the guidance of Giulio Savorgnan. Contemporary Heraklion has today absorbed historic Candia, after carrying out a deep alteration of the urban fabric and its architectural heritage, as well as after changing the relationship of the town with the sea and the hinterland. A few isolated elements survive among the recent buildings: Byzantine and Venetian churches, archaeological remains, fragments of walls and portals of medieval and modern age, and the urban walls. In addition to those scattered material sources, however, several published and unpublished written sources – notarial acts, estimates and public auctions, and cadastral documents – reveal information about Candia urban layout and architecture. These data contribute to reconstruct not only some aspects of what the town was during the last Venetian centuries, but also an idea of what the town has been: a symbol of the Serenissima in the eastern Mediterranean, a privileged crossroads of the Byzantine and Renaissance cultures, and possibly a centre of production of art, architecture, and urban planning. This paper therefore aims at giving an overall picture of the transformations of Candia to improve knowledge, awareness, and enhancement of its urban built heritage.